The SCORE Program at Cal Poly Pomona is designed to significantly improve the research capabilities of the University with the ultimate objective of increasing the number of under-represented minority students who are motivated to pursue careers as biomedical scientists. To achieve these ends the program will fund high-quality research leading to peer- reviewed publications and strengthen the infrastructure for scientific research. The program includes twelve sub-projects involving a total of fourteen faculty, all with strong, demonstrable commitments to research, and undergraduate education. The program is interdisciplinary involving faculty from four academic departments in two different colleges. The projects are diverse as well, covering topics ranging from human nutrition and health, to organ system structure and function, cellular and molecular biology, and organic and biochemistry. In a recent survey of the undergraduate origins of recent doctorates in biological sciences NSF ranked Cal Poly as one of the top 25 "Masters Colleges and Universities."Under the leadership of a new present, Bob Suzuki, the university has placed high priority on: the enhancement of research and other scholarly activities; preparing students for life, leadership, and careers in a changing, multicultural world; and promoting academic excellence, educational equity, and diversity in the campus community. Policies and programs have been instituted that will benefit from and contribute to the success and impact of the SCORE program at Cal Poly, Pomona. The University has a very high level of commitment to the success of the SCORE program, committing to pay for one-half of all of the equipment needed for the proposed research and to match the release time purchased for the faculty, effectively doubling the time made available for the conduct of t he research. The departments participating in the SCORE proposal have been very effective at recruiting under- represented students, with enrollments of Latino students, for example, growing twice as fast as for the University as a whole.